And Earth Remained
by theBrillianceofNight
Summary: Though Sun and Moon have left her behind, Earth remains. Through fire and flood, through heartache and agony, Earth remains. And though Sun and Moon return and Earth walks away, Earth remembers something that Sun and Moon have forgotten: Earth remains. AU


"Definitely not this one. The color scheme is way weird," the blonde girl declares, promptly flipping over the canvas and moving on to the next one. Her companion shakes her hair in amusement, brushing back a few strands of pink.

"Can you imagine _this_ hanging in my room?" _This_ is a painting of red and black tears falling from the eyes of a marble statue. The blonde girl turns that around as well, and continues in such a fashion around the rest of the stand.

"Yo! Tsukiko! Take a look at these paintings!" the blonde girl calls. Her friend approaches, carrying a bag in either hand.

Together, Tsukiko and the blonde girl, Youko, paint a strange picture of contrasts. Youko is toned and tanned, with short blonde hair in a boyish style. Tsukiko is slim and willowy, with long, straight black hair and pale skin.

Where Youko uses raw power, Tsukiko uses skill and strategy. Where Youko is friendly, Tsukiko is aloof.

With pink-haired Sakura tagging along, the trio are a group that many of the middle-aged shinobi cannot bear to see. They make a strange group, for sure. Sakura is the age of her seventeen and eighteen-year-old cohorts combined. Sakura has green eyes, Youko has blue eyes, and Tsukiko has dark gray eyes. They are roughly the same height, and Youko and Tsukiko both are jounin, vying for acceptance into the ranks of the ANBU. Youko hopes for a place with the squadron of bounty hunters, while Tsukiko desires to work alone within an infiltration unit. Sakura has already retired her own position and now works as Head Medic and assistant to the Hokage.

Tsukiko scoffs at Youko's choice and turns over her own preferred choice by memory, although Youko has shifted around all of the paintings in the process of choosing her own.

Youko has chosen a painting of the moon over a mountain range. Tsukiko has chosen a painting of the sun over a glittering sea.

Sakura smiles at their choices.

The old man at the counter takes a closer look at them, grins, and scurries back into the recesses of his tent to confer with his partner. This second old man is dressed in a black blue yukata, while the first wears a white one.

The man in the black yukata is the one who hands over a bundle to Sakura with a straight face and a stiff nod.

Sakura looks at each object in the bundle carefully before setting each down on the counter, all except for the very last item.

They are all paintings of a younger Sakura with two boys, one with dark hair and pale skin, the other with tan skin and bright blonde hair. Youko points out that the pale one with serious eyes looks like Tsukiko, while the blonde boy with sparkling blue eyes looks like herself.

Holding the last painting to her chest, Sakura smiles.

"What is the story behind them?" Tsukiko asks calmly.

Youko jumps up and interjects, "Why do they look like us and why are they with you?"

So Sakura tells them the story of the Moon and the Sun.

"Once upon a time, the Moon and the Sun were children. They lived together with the Earth, but Moon and Sun did not always get along. They fought often, always challenging each other to go higher and higher, but they left Earth behind."

Eventually, though, Earth caught up with Sun and Moon, and they led their people together. After they grew up, Sun and Moon decided they wanted children. Sun let Moon go first, and Moon-child was born from Earth. Sun went second, and Sun-child was soon to come.

"But just before Sun-child was born, Moon left." Sakura speaks with a trace of bitterness in her eyes, but her expression and her voice remain clear. "Sun chased after him although Sun-child was about to arrive. Earth remained with the people."

With the next sentence, the bitterness in her eyes dissolves and sorrow replaces it. Her voice and expression stay calm.

"Sun chased after Moon because the last time Moon left, Sun did not eat or sleep for weeks."

He was too busy trying to figure out a way to bring Moon back, too busy to remember Earth, and this time, he forgot Sun-child as well. He forgot about the people. Once in a while, Moon would return for a night. They would share a meal that Earth cooked, and they would sleep, but when Sun woke up in the morning, Earth could only tell him that Moon had gone. Every time.

"Eventually, Sun gave up chasing Moon."

He never gave up on Moon, but more pressing matters were at hand.

"Sun achieved his goal around this time, but after sitting in his office all day and night, making decisions for the people he thought he loved, he realized he did not want to protect the people unless Moon was with him."

His dream had changed. His new dream was to reach Moon.

"Earth nodded and wrote up papers for Sun's resignation."

But on that last day, Moon visited Sun, this time with a sword in one hand and a torch in the other.

"Moon said 'Choose' and Sun said 'Wait' and sent Earth away with two less locks of hair."

But Earth stayed anyway, and watched as Moon said "kill me" or "burn them". Earth watched as Sun made no hesitation in grabbing the torch and setting his home aflame.

"Moon and Sun left their people behind."

And Earth remained.

"It's not a happy story," Sakura apologizes, tracing the smiles on the closest picture.

Tsukiko shrugs and Youko rushes to reassure Sakura, who just smiles.

"How many times have you told this story?" Tsukiko asks, subtly probing for more information.

"How do you know these stories?" Youko shouts, in her usual straightforward fashion.

"Earth told me," Sakura replies enigmatically, watching in fond remembrance as Youko freezes in confusion and Tsukiko's mind immediately starts to process.

Before she can see the look of realization on Tsukiko's face, Sakura reminds Youko of the painting she wants. As the man in the black yukata exchanges the paintings for the money Youko and Tsukiko give him, Sakura bundles the pictures back up gently.

Fields of flowers.

Daytime celebration.

Night.

A future that disappeared in raging flames.

Sakura gives back the bundle and picks out a painting for herself after the two girls have walked away, arguing.

Her chosen painting depicts a fox howling at the moon and a raven circling near the sun.

It's a near solar eclipse, and the Earth is covered in shadow.

The man in white grins, and from within his yukata falls a necklace with the moon.

The man in black joins him, and he has a necklace with the sun.

And Sakura knows that those necklaces are lockets, and within each is a lock of pink hair.

Looking over the paintings, Sakura says, "They become more and more like you every day."

The man in white's eyes shine with unshed tears, and says, "It must be hard. I'd ask you to come with, but—"

"—We made our choice, and you made yours," the man in black cuts in with piercing eyes.

Sakura smiles, giving them the proper amount of money and easily hefting the large painting into her arms. Her strength has not left her, though most else has. "And Earth remained. Try a different image next time, boys, you move too smoothly for a bunch of old geezers."

And this time, Sakura is the one who turns her back on them with a momento in hand, and Sakura is the one who walks away, leaving the boys to wonder just what they've missed.

But Sakura knows something they've forgotten.

Tsukiko and Youko will never find out who their parents really are, or that they are, in truth, sisters. They will forever see themselves as orphans, because the only ones who know the truth cannot bear to see them. Though years have passed, the memories are still too vivid, and the pain is still too fresh.

The ones who know the truth believe that Sun and Moon burned with the Tower, and that is why the new Tower is painted with the constellations. That is why Sakura lives at the very top, though the Seventh Hokage's office is near the bottom.

Sakura is the only one of the middle generation who can stand to be around Tsukiko and Youko, although each movement either girl makes brings back painful memories. Perhaps that is why Sakura visits the monument every day, despite the pain, to remember those who have left her behind.

And Sakura knows something that all of the others have forgotten.

Sakura was Earth, and Sakura is Earth, and Earth remained.

Earth remains.

And that is one thing that will never change.


End file.
